Determining value of house for a 13

[hlane]

I am considering filing a 13 due to the fact that my mortgage company told me my BPO came back at $140,000. I owe $144,XXX on our first, and $3X,XXX on the second. How is it determined the true value of a house for bankruptcy?

TIA

[faith]

Originally Posted by hlane

I am considering filing a 13 due to the fact that my mortgage company told me my BPO came back at $140,000. I owe $144,XXX on our first, and $3X,XXX on the second. How is it determined the true value of a house for bankruptcy?

Originally Posted by hlane

TIA

Hello and welcome to this forum,

When you file for bankruptcy the court requires proof or document to determine the value of the home. The county assessment for the property is the best proof you can provide. When you pay real property tax your county will send you a statement every year. This statement will list the value of the property from their point of view. This is an official document and can be used in court.

If the county assessment is higher than the fair market value, you can ask the county to reassess the value of the home base on the current sold homes. In Riverside County you can access their forms online called Prop 8. You need a proof that the value of the homes in your area decline. Go to Zillow and Yahoo Real Estate. Attach a copy of the recent sold homes from Zillow or Yahoo Real Estate to the form Prop 8 and mailed it to the Assessor’s office of your county. You will get the reasseement between 30-60 days. I did it twice, one in 0ctober 2007 and the other in Feb 2008. In both cases, the value declined bases on what zillow.com recent sold homes, and I save a lot of money.
Zillow and Yahoo Real Estate are the websites that the trustees use to evaluate the property at first glance.

When you go to court you always have to prove your case so document is very important. You have to prove your case every step of the way. Don’t rely on your attorney to do all the work. You are in a court of law and it is your job, duty, responsibility to prove your case.

You can also hire an independent Appraiser; check the Better Business Bureau for a reliable and dependable appraiser. They charged from $350 and up. However if you can get the information through the websites mentioned above since you are going to get the fair market value through recent sold homes, why not save the money for the last resort.

Bankruptcy could be very expensive. People think that filing for bankruptcy can help them stop foreclosure. But statistics shows from the American Bar Association that it doesn’t work that way. In fact, 96% of the people who file bankruptcy end up losing their homes anyway—so they’re left with a foreclosure AND a bankruptcy on their records.

In some cases, bankruptcy is still a viable option, but don’t make any decisions without getting professional advice. Choosing a reliable, dependable and honest lawyer can help you save you money and maybe save your home. Make sure that you check the name of your lawyer if he is license to practice law. You need a qualified bankruptcy attorney to help you figure out if bankruptcy is a good choice for you, and if so, which type of bankruptcy you should file.

Here's the link to search for your lawyer:

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=255050

God bless and take care.